A Plan to Protect

The N.C. Coastal Habitat Protection Plan (CHPP) is the result of North Carolina’s Fisheries Reform Act, passed by the General Assembly in 1997. The CHPP is the guidance document that addresses habitat and water quality efforts needed to protect, enhance and restore fish habitat in North Carolina. The plan includes:

A description of each coastal fish habitat, the species that utilize them and the ecological services provided;

The status and trends of each habitat;

A summary of threats to fish habitat from human activities or natural events;

The overarching goal of the plan is long-term enhancement of coastal fisheries through habitat protection and enhancement efforts. To achieve this, there are four major goals of the plan, with multiple recommendations under each. Jump to the Goals and Recommendations section or download the Recommendations chapter for the complete list of the CHPP's goals.

For the current status of CHPP development, jump to the CHPP Process section.

Protect habitat from fishing gear effects through improved enforcement, establishment of protective buffers around habitats, modified rules, and further restriction of fishing gear where necessary.

Protect estuarine and public trust shorelines and shallow water habitats by revising shoreline stabilization rules to include consideration of erosion rates and prefer alternatives to vertical shoreline stabilization that maintain shallow nursery habitats.

Protect and enhance habitat for anadromous fishes by:

Incorporating the water quality and quantity needs of fish in surface water use planning and rule making.

Eliminating obstructions to fish movements, such as dams, locks, and road fills.

Ensure that energy development and infrastructure is designed and sited in a manner that minimizes negative impacts to fish habitat, avoids new obstructions to fish passage, and where possible provides positive impacts.

Protect important fish habitat functions from damage associated with activities such as dredging and filling.

Protect habitat from fishing gear effects through improved enforcement, establishment of protective buffers around habitats, modified rules and further restriction of fishing gear, where necessary.

Protect estuarine and public trust shorelines and shallow water habitats by revising shoreline stabilization rules to include consideration of erosion rates and preferred alternatives to vertical shoreline stabilization that maintain shallow nursery habitats.

Protect and enhance habitat for anadromous fishes by:

Incorporating the water quality and quantity needs of fish in surface water use planning and rule making;

Eliminating obstructions to fish movements, such as dams, locks and road fills.

Ensure that energy development and infrastructure is designed and sited in a manner that minimizes negative impacts to fish habitat, avoids new obstructions to fish passage and, where possible, provides positive impacts.

Protect important fish habitat functions from damage associated with activities such as dredging and filling.

Prevent additional shellfish closures and swimming advisories through targeted water quality restoration and prohibit new or expanded stormwater outfalls to coastal beaches and to coastal shellfishing waters (EMC surface water classifications SA and SB) except during times of emergency (as defined by the Division of Water Resources’s Stormwater Flooding Relief Discharge Policy) when public safety and health are threatened, and continue to phase-out existing outfalls by implementing alternative stormwater management strategies.

Enhance coordination with, and financial/technical support for, local government actions to better manage stormwater and wastewater.

Improve strategies throughout the river basins to reduce non-point pollution and minimize cumulative losses of fish habitat through voluntary actions, assistance, and incentives, including:

Documentation and monitoring of small but cumulative impacts to fish habitats from approved, un-mitigated activities.

Encouraging and providing incentives for low impact development.

Increased inspections of onsite wastewater treatment facilities.

Increased water re-use and recycling.

Improve strategies throughout the river basins to reduce non-point pollution and minimize cumulative losses of fish habitats and streams through rule making, including:

Increased use of effective vegetated buffers.

Implement and assess coastal stromwater rules and modify if justified.

Modify water quality standards to adequetly support SAV habitat.

Maintain adequete water quality condictive to the support of present and future aquaculture.

Reduce non-point source pollution from large-scale animal operations by the following actions:

Support early implementation of environmentally superior alternatives to the current lagoon and spray field systems as identified under the Smithfield Agreement and continue the moratorium on new/expanded swine operations until alternative waste treatment technology is implemented.

Prevent additional shellfish closures and swimming advisories through targeted water quality restoration, and prohibit new or expanded stormwater outfalls to coastal beaches and to coastal shellfishing waters (Environmental Management Commission surface water classifications SA and SB) except during times of emergency (as defined by the Division of Water Resource’s

Maintain adequate water quality conducive to the support of present and future aquaculture.

Reduce non-point source pollution from large-scale animal operations by the following actions:

Support early implementation of environmentally superior alternatives to the current lagoon and spray field systems as identified under the Smithfield Agreement, and continue the moratorium on new/expanded swine operations until alternative waste treatment technology is implemented.

Development and implementation of the Coastal Habitat Protection Plan is a N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources effort. Staff from the department’s divisions with jurisdiction over marine fisheries, water quality and coastal management are required to participate in plan development. The Division of Marine Fisheries is the lead agency in drafting the plans. A CHPP Team, consisting of a few staff members from the Division of Marine Fisheries, Division of Coastal Management and Division of Water Resources meet as needed to provide input on plan drafts and discuss potential solutions to coastal habitat issues. To implement recommendations of the plan, the CHPP team develops specific actions in a separate implementation plan.

The CHPP Steering Committee, which consists of two commissioners from the Marine Fisheries, Coastal Management and Environmental Management commissions reviews and approves the plan, recommendations and implementation actions. They also meet regularly to discuss cross-cutting habitat and water quality issues and solutions and receive updates on CHPP progress. Members of the CHPP Steering Committee serve as liaisons to their full commissions to improve communication across commissions.